Lawyer says officer at Choctaw football game shooting may have been 'targeting' man injured
The lawyer for a man shot during a high school football game that turned deadly said Tuesday his client may have been targeted by an off-duty police officer who shot him in the chest.
Dallas-based attorney Billy Clark told The Oklahoman by phone that an off-duty Del City police officer who was at the Aug. 25 Choctaw vs. Del City football game knows his client, Demetrize Carter, 43, of Oklahoma City. The attorney said Carter was trying to break up a fight when he was shot in the chest by the officer.
“This particular officer saw him coming to the stadium and made a comment to him because they have a history,” Clark said. “‘I know you’ — those kinds of comments. It seems like now he was targeting my client.”
Asked by The Oklahoman if Carter was armed at the time he was shot, Clark said his client was unarmed and cooperated with police by having his hands in the air.
“They had perceived a threat,” Clark said. “Whatever that perceived threat was, that’s going to be what we're going to find out, as well. There was no weapon at all.”
The Del City Police Department did not return messages seeking comment.
What we know about the Choctaw football shooting so far
Cordea Carter, 16, was shot and killed during the third quarter of the game at Bill Jensen Field. Several others at the game, including adults and teenagers, were injured.
Clark, the attorney for Demetrize Carter, said his client is not related to Cordea Carter, the fatal shooting victim.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested last week on a second-degree murder complaint in the Cordea Carter case. The suspect, whose name was not released, was taken into custody "without incident" by officers from Choctaw, Oklahoma City, the U.S. Marshals Service and Oklahoma County's warrants team.
Authorities believe an argument between at least two males led to the shooting. Multiple gunshots were fired. Investigators recovered two guns and eight rounds at the scene.
At least one shot during the exchange was fired by one of two off-duty Del City police officers who were working security at the game.
Both officers have been placed on paid leave.
Investigation into shooting remains ongoing, police say
Marshall told The Oklahoman the investigation into what led to the initial gunshots is progressing.
“There are a lot of people to interview,” she said Tuesday.
The Oklahoma County sheriff’s office is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Aaron Brilbeck, a spokesman for the Oklahoma County sheriff's office, said the agency might have a public announcement on the case later this week.
Investigators have repeatedly tried to speak with Demetrize Carter, Brilbeck said.
“Hopefully soon he'll have the time to talk to us,” he said. “We reached out to him three times last week. We were told ‘no’ all three times.”
Carter remains hospitalized in Oklahoma City after suffering a collapsed lung, kidney failure and damage to his intestines, spleen and pancreas as a result of the bullet that struck him in the left side of the chest.
The attorney told The Oklahoman that now that Carter is being represented, a conversation with investigators may be facilitated.
“He's in excruciating pain,” Clark said.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lawyer: Man injured at Choctaw football shooting may have been targeted
